Is Athirapally hydro project desirable?

If you are very choosy about God’s Own Country, you will describe a number of positive things that is unique to the state. You will also list out Kerala’s negativity, which will consume a larger paper than all the good that you wrote. Kerala is nevertheless a tourist’s paradise, for every year, a large trek of people from countries across the globe which are not noticeable in the atlas, land, come and seem to enjoy.

Kerala’s past, in the opening years of history has been formidable. It was known to the ancient sea faring tribes, voyagers, traders, merchants. There have been regular plying of vessels carrying riches from the Orient, and they take back invaluable pepper, spices, and other remarkable crops, which had great value in the international markets. Kerala people knew the stories of Arabian Nights much before other parts of India and the world were aware of. But these traders came strictly to trade, make a barter trade, bring their goods, take goods from Kerala. When Jesus Christ introduced to the world, Christianity, his direct disciple St Thomas, came to Kerala. There is vivid history of Christianity having spread to the four corners of Kerala. Christianity came here, much before it went to Europe. Islam also spread to Kerala much before the world was aware of this religion. The Jews came here in herds, when they had to run away for their lives. In the 15th century, we have seen the European powers one on the tail of others, coming to trade, colonizing the country and looting its wealth for their well being. English, French, Dutch, Portuguese, all belonged to this School.

It has been in the blood of Kerala people to voyage. Set sail by sea. This adventurous trait of the ordinary Kerala man, and the appetite to do hard work, and the vision to succeed, made him leave Indian shores in search of greener pastures. As a single person, the ordinary Keralite called mallu, in North India, always performed admirably, but as a team, there was always poor performance. This limitation of behaviour had strayed to every part of life of a Keralite. When six economists are gathered, there are seven opinions. But when six Keralites discuss, they will give ten opinions.

Opening up of educational institutions by Christian missionaries, had a large impact on the educational field. In the old Ernakulam, there were only two Government Colleges, one Maharajas College and another Law College. All the other colleges were privately run. There is a powerful educational lobby in Kerala, where education is both in private and public forms. Dr T M A Pai would have conceived the privatization of commercial education, but it was Kerala, who developed private education in such a big way. Though there was higher education, and many educational pursuits, there was no matching economic or industrial growth in Kerala, which could absorb the talents. Central investment was/is the lowest in Kerala. The private sector is also reluctant to set up their units in a big way. All these have made Kerala absorb consumerism, and not manufacturing activity. Trading is a way of life. There are more malls in Kochi than in a metro like Bangalore or Hyderabad. People’s craze for gold is higher here than in any other place. One Economist in a lecture pointed out that Kerala required more policing because of its craze for Golden jewellery which accounts for sizable investment in each household. His comment should be taken seriously. Second is fashion consciousness. I do not think, there is any other place in the world, where fashion is part of culture. Tradition is breadth. Festivities are part of every Keralite. Hospitality is a trade mark, special to Kerala. The religious cosmopolitan culture has held the state proud. But today, the name of Keralites crop up everywhere where a terror act has disturbed the public peace.

Militancy of labour has been benchmarked with Kerala, rightly or wrongly. This has been the chief reason, why industries fear to thread to Kerala territory even though they see lot of potential. In Kerala, they say there is rampant unemployment. But if I look around for a car driver, carpenter, plumber, electrician, I seldom get one. In Kerala, there is more Voluntary Unemployment than in any other state because the Gulf remittance from one member in the family takes care of the other members of the family making their both ends meet.

Vallarpadam Container terminal, growth of IT industry, growth in Kochi Export Processing zone, bio-technology and industrial hubs concept promoted by the Kerala Government has started yielding results. Cochin port, Nedumassery Airport, are all on their feet booking profits through improving their business. This is a good sign.

Then there was a Jairam Ramesh effect on Kerala based export merchandise. From 2007-9, when he was the Minsiter of State for Commerce, he highly patronized the Kerala sectors, tea, marine products, cashew, coconut, coir, and rubber. The price of 1 kg of rubber is Rs 175/-. This has been made possible by Jairam Ramesh effect. Every Saturday/Sunday, he used to tour Kerala, and actively participate in raising the standard and productivity of these industries. A tiny industry like Coir exports rose from Rs 475 Cr to Rs 800 Cr. Spices exports, got many schemes, Spices Park, branding of spices produce, participation in international exhibitions, developing use of vanilla, etc were outcome of his support.
Now let me come to Athirapally Project. The Kerala Government which never bothered to use Mr Jairam Ramesh, even though he was more than friendly to the Kerala crops, now accuse him of playing spoilt to Kerala’s development. When he was Minister of Commerce, I had taken him to Kodungallur, and showed him the historical monuments there, and explained to him. Based on his note, Central Government gave a bonanza of restoration of Kodungallur as a historical monument and sanctioned Crores of Rupees.

Athirapalli is one of the most bewitching waterfalls in Kerala having a high percentage of aquatic and eco diversity in the State. The outlay for the entire project is estimated at Rs 675 Cr. The expected power production is arrived as 163 MW. The dam is supposed to come up in the east of Chalakudi, along Chalakudi Annamali inter-state highway (Vazhakal forest division). The dam is expected to have a height of 23m and will have a width of 311 m. The dam is projected as a peak load station where Water will be diverted via penstock (pipe) to turbines downstream. A dam toe powerhouse downstream of the dam will be built to maintain Athirapally-Vazhachal Waterfalls. On the basis of the expert committee of River valley projects, power should be generated only between 7-11 p.m. during Feb1-May31 which are the driest months in the Kerala calendar. It has also ordained that 7.65 cubic metre/second (cumec) of water over the Atirapalli falls must be maintained always.

Environmentalists and public spirited hydrologists argue that the river experiences the maximum flow during July (102 cumecs) During the dry months of Feb,March and April, its flow is reduced to 14-15 cumec, and if the water level be reduced to 7.65 cumec during the dry months, there will be no waterfall at all. It is also argued that for power generation, 7 Km long penstock will absorb 86% of water from the dam, which indirectly will leave people living upto 7 kms devoid of drinking water, as no alternate sources exist. The project being a peak loading station, Chalakudi River will experience heavy fluctuation in its flow during the 4 hours when power is generated during which time the release of water can be as high as 130 cumec. Overflowing problems and affliction to downstream Chalakudi River diversion scheme which irrigates and provides drinking water to way side villages and panchayats in Trichur and Ernakulam district will cease. The riparian forests of the Chalakudy River have revealed the existence of a thick riparian vegetation of more than 10 metres width for a distance of 10.5 km downstream from Peringalkuth, covering an area of 58.5 hectares. Out of this, 26.4 hectares lie within the Vazachal area, including three large islands densely covered by riparian forests.
The riparian forests of the area have been found to be characterised by the presence of typical riparian species of plants, in addition to evergreen and semi-evergreen species. Out of the 319 species of flowering plants identified from the study area, 24 are endemic species of the Western Ghats and 10 are rare and endangered.
Moreover, the Chalakudy River is known for its diversity, as it contains 85 species of fresh water fishes out of the 152 species known from Kerala. Among these, 35 are endemic species of the Western Ghats and nine are considered to be endangered. Highly endangered Cochin Forest Cane turtle and the river bed is the nestling site of Malabar pied hombele birds. The area is supposed to be the best elephant conservation spot. . Any disruption to this ecofragile ecosystem will spell disaster.

The Power Engineers also feel that reduced water flow would not even help production of 26.7 MW as against 163 MW envisaged (234 million units of energy). In such a case, the cost: benefit analysis vis-à-vis the investment costs, running costs, maintaining costs, and recovery of costs would be unviable. The notional cost for the destruction of ecology and ecosystem would be unimaginable. Kerala’s density of forests has come down because the estuaries have been destroyed. Sea and Coastal erosion is taking a heavy toll due to unscientific dredging. Our fish sanctuaries have vanished, and bird habitats have disappeared. As per the state records, there is a transmission loss of 3020 million units. Why don’t we try to curb transmission losses by at least 10 to 15%, which will allow a nett energy of 303 million? The other way, is increase productivity of the existing hydro electric projects by up-grading the machines. Hydro electric projects are no answer for restoring balance to the power needs of the state. Mr Nehru called Bakranangal as the temple of India. Today, there are many alternate sources to produce electricity. And the cost of producing power is also cheaper.

In view of so many negative features that deters go ahead for the Athirapally hydro electric power station, can we blamed Hon’ble Shri Jairam Ramesh alone. We have to give solid arguments countering each of the points. Our eco systems are already overburdened. Any callous attitude or action will cause catastrophe tomorrow? We do not have the right to destroy the fragile eco-system which belongs to tomorrow’s generation.

ASEAN Agreement, Kerala's despair

India has inked a pact with the ASEAN (Brunei , Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia , Lao PDR , Malaysia , Myanmar ,Singapore, Thailand , Viet Nam , Philippines ) Countries on 13th August 2009, with the intention to boost bi-lateral trade between India and ASEAN Countries by giving Most Favoured Nation status subject to certain conditions, stipulations, and binding clauses. However, the present Freee Trade Agreement has its origin in the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation between the Republic of India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (the Framework Agreement) signed in Bali, Indonesia on 8 October 2003.


India has signed 4 separate Agreements with the ASEAN Countries. They are:- 1] Protocol to Amend the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation between the Republic of India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ; 2] Agreement on Dispute Settlement Mechanism under the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation between the Republic of India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations; 3] Comprehensive Trade in Goods Agreement under the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation between the Republic of India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ;
4] Understanding on Article 4 of the Trade in Goods Agreement under the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation between the Republic of India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

In the Treaty One, there is an explict Artcile- (2) which talks about reduction/elimination of Applied MFN Tariff rates for normal Track products set out in Paragraph 5(a) (i) to (iii) of Artcile 3 of the Frame Work Agreement gives the date with the year of elimination /conclusion under Track I and Track II. The Agreement shows that the new Agreement is concluded to reiterate the framework Agreement and to reflect the current position in relation to the Early harvest porgramme (EHP).

In the Second agreement, the Agreement on Dispute Settlement Mechanism , its coverage, application, arbitration, consultation, conciliation, mediation, suspension of concession of benefits under Para 4 and 5 of Article 15 can be done only after the Final order of the Arbitration panel set up under the provisions of this Agreement.
Agreement on trade on goods is a 93 page document. Article (4) refers to Tariff Reduction and Elimination. It is stated that tariff Reduction and elimination Schedule is set out in Annexure- I. Annexure I contains the Schedule of tariff Commitments. In the Explanatory notes, under 1 (a) Normal track is defined as MFN tariff rates for tariff lines placed in the Normal track will be reduced and finally eliminated on a time schedule basis. The same procedure will be followed for items placed in the Normal Track (2) as well. Under (b), there is a Sensitive Track, wherein it is stated that applied MFN Tariff rates above 5% for tariff lines in the sensitive track will be reduced by 5% in accordance with the Schedules. Under (c) which has categorized Special products, it is stated that Crude and refined palm oil (CPO and RPO) which has a customs duty of 76% and 86% will be reduced to 37.5% and 45%, and Coffee which has a present duty of 95% will be reduced to 45%, black Tea from the present 95% to 45%, Pepper from 68% to 50% by 31-12-2019. This Agreement also talks about Highly sensitive Lists, wherein the tariff lines are split into 3 categories namely, Category-1 Reduction of applied MFN Tariff to 50%, Category 2 reduction of MFN Tariff to 50%, and category 3 wherein the reduction of applied MFN Tariff to 25%. These reductions would reach the completed phase for Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand (31 Dec 2019), Philippines (Dec 2022), Cambodia and Vietnam (31 Dec 2024). The compendium of clauses which pertain to Safeguard Measures, and the compliance to Artcile XIX of GATT 1994, Agreement on Safeguards in Annexe 1 A to the WTO Agreement, Artcile 5 of the Agreement in Agriculture in Annex 1 A to the WTO Agreement on Agriculture, AIFTA safeguard methodologies, etc. The method of calculation of AIFTA content is detailed in Appendix- A. There is also under (e) an Exclusion List which says that the list shall be subject to an annual tariff review with a view to improving market access. There is an Appendix- C which says that it is a single list of Textiles and Textiles Products based on Harmonized Code prevalent in 2002) wherein Harmonized Code chapters 30,39,42,50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59,60,61,62,63,63,65,66, 87, 88, 70, 94,95, are described. All types of textiles, both hand made, cotton based, handloom, silk, floor coverings including Coir handmade products, home decorative products, bed sheets, bed covers, pillow covers, floor carpets, woolen fabrics, glass fibres, Coir Rubberized mattresses, pillows, cushions, quilts, etc find a place.

AIFTA Certificate of Origin is defined in Artcile 7, and back to back certificate of Origin appear in Artcile 11 under Operational Certificate protocol. All those bodies who can issue certifications and are presently included in Appendix 4 A of the Hand Book of Procedures, Vol I, are the competent agencies to issue the AIFTA CoOs.

As far as Kerala is concerned, its Rubber, marine products, cashew, coconut, spices, Coir, pepper, Coffee, Tea exports will be affected as ASEAN Countries are having similar crops. These countries have higher productivity and have gone for modernization while the units in the State will have to grapple with old obsolete machinery, high cost of production, shortage of technical experts, poor marketing strategies, etc. Though the Agreement speaks about Sensitive Tracks, Special products, highly sensitive lists, etc, the items which are included in the Lists have not been published as an Appendix or as Annexure. There is also fear amongst the artisans and farmers of Kerala that the lists purported to have been prepared by India may not have been approved, otherwise, the Agreements would contain the Sensitive Lists. The State Government has gone on record and said that there is no negative list, even though the Commerce & Industry Minister has committed in writing about the existence of such a list and send a Copy. But all said and done, the Central Government must present a transparent picture, and should come out with the truth regarding whether the List has been approved by all the ASEAN Countries. Why can’t they publish it in the Commerce Ministry web site to allay the fears of Kerala?